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Help with Diet

Hello.

I just posted this in My Story. I did not notice that there was a diet related thread until afterwards, so sorry to repeat myself. I have had Ulcerative Colitis since 2001. I don't want to follow the traditional route of taking medications for treatment. I tried several drug types a few years ago but found the side effects to be almost as bad as the disease. I can't live like that.

I was inspired by the books by David Klein and Paul Nilson, who cured their Ulcerative Colitis with diet. So I am looking to communicate with other people on here who are managing Ulcerative Colitis or Crohns with diet too. I have had a few ups and downs over the years. But by using diet methods, overall I am vastly improved from how I was in 2001. I have found diet restrictions to be most helpful.

So I am looking for additional diet or supplement ideas that I may currently be unaware of. Are you managing the disease with diet? If so, please share your ideas with me. What foods flare you up? What foods settle you down? What supplements are you taking?

Thank you
 
Since no-one replied :(

I just thought I would follow up, as there has been some HUGE positive changes since I first posted back in October 2010:

I am now following a combination of the book "Self Healing Colitis & Crohns" by David Klein, and suggestions on the website of Dr Joel Fuhrman.

I finally got my act together late last year and committed to this 100%.

And since I committed 100%, I have been having the best results ever.

I was getting good results previously, but I was not fully committed and focused. And so as a result, I often took two steps forward and one step back.

Since committing, the results have been out of this world. Utterly brilliant beyond belief.

If you are interested, I suggest you join the free mailing list at:

http://www.drfuhrman.com

Once you have joined the mailing list, you will be sent the following message in an email: “As a Thank You for joining our mailing list, we would like to send you a free copy of Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Times Newsletter”.

Open that newsletter link and search for the following edition: Newsletter No 36, March 2008. It contains some excellent information on a diet and supplement regime for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

I signed up late last year, and I am having fantastic results with his diet and supplement suggestions. No constipation, no diarrhea, no mucus, no blood, no pain, no bloating. Just normal bowel movements, and energy levels are improving every day.

Sometimes I even forget that I actually have UC, given the improvement in just a few short months has been that dramatic.

It is a strict diet and I have to take supplements every day. But it is drug-free and working, and so I am fully committed to it.

If you don't want to fully follow their plan, you may still get some good ideas from it. And again, the Dr. Fuhrman newsletter is totally free.

However, I have chosen to be under the supervised guiding care of a naturopath whilst following it, so I do pay to visit naturopath every six weeks for check ups.

Maybe this info will help someone too?
 
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NOTE:

On the Dr Fuhrman website there is a section where you need to pay. There is a member center that you can join and you will be charged a monthly subscription. This seems mainly to be for people following their weight loss program. Since we don't want to do that, there is no need to become a member or pay a subscription fee.

Go to the website: http://www.drfuhrman.com

On the right hand side of the page you will see a box that says:

"Join Our Mailing List - Get a FREE Healthy Times newsletter - Receive weekly emails on current health news, events, & product specials - Confidentiality is assured, we do not release or sell names or email addresses"

Enter your name and email address and press submit. You will then receive a welcome email that says: “As a Thank You for joining our mailing list, we would like to send you a free copy of Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Times Newsletter”.

You open the link they provide and you will find a whole host of past newsletters.

You need to then search for the following edition: Newsletter No 36, March 2008. It contains some excellent information on a diet and supplement regime for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

It is all completely free.

Another forum member got confused, so thought I had better be clear about the details.
 
BTW:

I will post a full list of my supplements later.

The supplements are not forever, I can reduce them and even cease them when my bowel is more healed.

The diet I am following is wheat-free vegan, with limited soy. Lots of vegetable juicing. A restricted diet, but the brilliant results have made it easier for me to stay committed.

Finally managed to give up meat, dairy and wheat last year. Which is good because these three foods give me bad wind, cramping, pain, mucous and blood.
 
I've looked at David Klein's stuff and a lot of the Raw Food diet materials from Norman Walker to Ann Wigmore. A big question I have is what do you do for Vitamin D? We're always bombarded with stories about how important Vit D is, and even MORE important for IBD-sufferers.

If getting sunlight year-round isn't an option, how do you supplement Vit D? It's a fat-soluble vitamin when taken orally, and raw food diets don't seem to have a lot of fatty foods.
 
Supplements:

1) High Strength Multi Strain Probiotic X 2 tablets daily – 1 in morning /1 at night

2) Omega 3 EPA & DPA X 2 tablets daily – morning

3) Curcumin X 2 tablets daily – 1 in morning /1 at night

4) Pure L-Glutamine X 2 teaspoons of powder in water daily – 1 in morning /1 at night

5) Vitamin D3 X 3 drops in juice daily, equivalent to 3000IU– morning

6) Organic freeze dried green powder mix of spirulina, chlorella and barleygrass X 1 teaspoon in juice daily – morning

7) Organic freeze dried acai powder X 1 teaspoon in a smoothie whenever I remember

Seems a lot I know. But as I heal I will be able to reduce or stop my intake.

If you consider at one stage I was on a mix of 15 - 20 drugs a day, it is not really that much.

Plus I don't get any nasty side effects from the supplements. Only other health benefits.

Please seek naturopathic advice before commencing with any of these supplements.
 
Following on from supplements – here is an explanation:

Probiotics are well-known for their use in treating IBS and IBD. It takes about 3 months for these to start working properly, so I will be on these for quite a while.

Studies have shown that Omega 3, Curcumin and green superfood powders are all beneficial for treating IBS and IBD

The naturopath put me on numbers 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6. I requested numbers 4 & 7 and she agreed.

I was taking 1, 2, & 3 from the word go. Then # 4 was introduced to really help with a deeper quicker healing when I was struggling with phase 1 of the diet.

A stranger in a book shop recommended L-Glutamine years ago to me for UC. Plus a bit of internet searching showed that many other IBS and IBD sufferers had good results with it.

If you read the newsletter as I have suggested, you will see there is 3 phrases of the diet. I was seriously struggling with phase 1 because every time I tried to eat the steamed vegetables I would get cramps and diarrhea. So we concluded that I must have been more inflamed than I thought I was. Christmas, New Year and several birthday parties around the same period would have contributed to me taking the steps back I spoke about earlier.

So I asked the naturopath if she knew anything about using L-Glutamine for IBD and she agreed that it would be a good idea to try it. Within two weeks of taking it I was successfully able to do phase 1.

In the lead up to phase 1, I was literally living on papaya or banana smoothies made with coconut water for two weeks, as it was the only thing I could eat that did not upset me. On the upside of this restricted, boring, yet utterly delicious phase, my skin looks fabulous from all that extra nutrition.

# 5, 6 & 7 supplements were only introduced once I started feeling better and was on phase 2 of the diet.

I am taking the acai powder because it is an excellent antioxidant. It is too gritty to take in water, so I buzz it up in with a smoothie in the blender.

Again, check with an expert first.
 
Although I signed up to the newsletter late last year, I still wasn’t doing things the correct way. So although I had some good results, I was also sabotaging my efforts. In hindsight, signing up just before Christmas was not the best idea I have ever had.

At New Year I ate a lot of chicken and the pain I experienced literally stopped me in my tracks and brought me to my knees in pure agony. So I started the New Year fed up of taking two steps forward and one step back, and knew the only way forward was to be totally focused and committed to this.

So I finally took the plunge and I totally committed myself on 1st February 2011 and the past 7 weeks have been the best I have ever felt. It feels like I have been doing this diet and taking these supplements forever, so I still have to pinch myself when I realise it has only been 7 weeks. Especially considering how much I have improved in such a short period of time.

Pretty much within a week or two things started to improve. I have had normal bowel movements at normal times. Absolutely no constipation, diarrhea, mucus, blood, pain, bloating. Just normal beautiful well formed bowel movements!! The sort I use to have years ago before I got sick. My energy levels are slowly increasing each day and I am actually considering taking up cross country running again, which I have not done in over twenty years.

For years I have been wearing incontinence underwear just-in-case. I have had a few near misses over the years and once lost control on a packed train and in a busy shopping centre. So I got into the habit of wearing incontinence underwear. I haven’t really needed it in the past few years since I started to improve, but kept wearing it just-in-case. It is only in the last month that I have felt 100% confident enough to stop wearing them.

P.S. I know talking about bowel movements and incontinence underwear is very personal and private BUT once you get IBD, it really is open season to talk about these things with family and with perfect strangers on an internet forum. :smile:

P.P.S. I am so proud and impressed with my perfect bowel movements, that I want to take a photo and upload the image to share my joy with the world. YES - I THINK I HAVE FINALLY CRACKED UP!
 
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I've looked at David Klein's stuff and a lot of the Raw Food diet materials from Norman Walker to Ann Wigmore.
I am not doing totally raw, as it is too harsh for me.

But I am following many of the ideas from David Klein, Norman Walker and Ann Wigmore, plus others. For example: juices, smoothies, barleygrass and wheatgrass are all from the raw food diet, and I have found them all to be beneficial.

My naturopath thinks that raw foods are very beneficial and is happy for me to consume them as part of my diet. But she says a big no to 100% raw food. I have felt like that for a while, so it is good that she acknowledges and agrees with my assessment.

So whilst I am following many of David Kleins suggestions from his book, I am not following him 100%. Dr Joel Fuhrman suggests a cooked vegan diet for IBD, so I am taking the ideas best from both and combining these ideas together.

This diet is under naturopath approval, guidance and care.
 
how do you supplement Vit D? It's a fat-soluble vitamin when taken orally, and raw food diets don't seem to have a lot of fatty foods.

I have pretty much covered these questions above.

In raw food the best fats are raw activated nuts, some seeds and avocado.

Obviously, I can’t eat many nuts as they are too harsh for me. But I eat a lot of ripe avocados. They buzz up very nicely in smoothies, and mashed avocado can be added to many things.

Avocado often gets a bad rap in slimming diets because of the fat, but it is actually a very healthy fat.

See post below.
 
This article was written by David Klein

Avocados. You either love ’em, or you avoid ’em. And if you belong to the latter group, you’re missing out on a nutritional superstar. Avocados are bursting with nutrients–vitamins, A, C, E, H, K and B complex (including folic acid), plus the minerals magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and many other trace elements. They’re full of enzymes and are 74 percent water by weight. Avocados provide all of the essential amino acids (those that must be provided by our diet), with 18 amino acids in all, plus seven fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6. Avocado lovers who eat a healthful diet typically experience more lustrous hair, softer skin, more pliable nails, fewer joint problems, slimmer bellies, less body odour, improved mental function and enhanced libido.

Rich in Protein and Fats

Ripe avocado is one of the richest sources of easily digestable, non-toxic fats. This fruit also contains more protein than cow’s milk–about two percent per edible portion. The ripening action of the sun spurs its enzymes to "predigest" complex proteins into simple, easily digested amino acids. Ripe, raw, organically grown avocados are naturally pure and provide all we need to build the highest quality protein in our bodies.

Avocados are the perfect source of dietary fat. Most people who transition from the standard North American diet (SAD)–white bread and pasta, red meat, pasteurized milk, processed cheese and junk foods–to plant-based fat sources including avocado, nuts and seeds don’t miss animal foods because raw plant fat is completely satisfying and more nutritious. Approximately 63 percent of the fat in avocados is monounsaturated, 20 percent is polyunsaturated and 17 percent is saturated. The American Diabetes Association recently called avocados "nutrition superstars," and recommended them as part of a healthy eating plan for diabetics because they contain good monounsaturated fat that does not raise blood cholesterol.

Go Lean

With all these fresh vitamins, organic minerals, active enzymes, soluble fibre, high water content and easily digestable fats and proteins, avocados can help transform any sluggish, overweight meat-eater into a slimmer person. Some of the leanest people I know eat the most avocados!

Cooked foods such as refined grain, meat or dairy products in the SAD diet are the real villains that can keep an avocado-eater from losing excess fat. Why? Because cooking progressively destroys fibre and nutrients. Cooked foods therefore are clogging, taking days to move through our system, and they are nutrient-poor and toxic, sending the body into a fat-storage crisis mode. Evidence from many sources clearly shows that cooked fatty and high-protein foods are the prime culprit in North America’s high rate of cancer, as well as in colitis and Crohn’s disease, among many other diseases. This is because heated fats contain free radicals that can cause cancer. Cooked proteins coagulate so that they cannot be absorbed, then they putrefy in the bowel. Cooked starches clog us up with sticky matter that becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.

One avocado per day typically gives us all the fat we need, and is about all we can digest per meal. A small avocado provides more usable protein than a huge steak because the body cannot readily utilize cooked meat protein. And, unlike animal meat, avocados are fibre-rich and non-constipating, as well as free of antibiotics and hormones. Digestion time is also dramatically lower–avocado won’t putrefy in your stomach like meat does. As for the environment, it takes about 220 gallons of water to produce a pound of avocado compared with 2,400 gallons of water per pound of beef.

Why not start a new eating plan with avocados in mind? Whether your goal is to eat more healthy foods or transition completely off meat and dairy, avocado can be the perfect way to satisfy both your taste buds and your body’s needs.

Fallacy: It is high in cholesterol
Fact: It has no cholesterol. Only animal foods have cholesterol.

Fallacy: It’s high in fat and it’s fattening
Fact: It is the cooked starches, meat, dairy and processed sugar in people’s diets that feed fat cells. Most active people who consume avocados as part of a vegan diet have no problem losing excess fat and staying lean.

And best of all, ripe avocados are very soothing for people with IBS & IBD. Must be ripe though.
 
So I am looking for additional diet or supplement ideas that I may currently be unaware of.
The wheat-free vegan diet is working really well, but I am always open to new suggestions.

It was only a few years ago that I accidently discovered during an internet search that wheat and sugar are both considered pretty bad for IBS & IBD. It seemed everyone knew it but me. And many people reported brilliant improvements after giving them up. It then suddenly dawned on me that I had pain every time I ate anything with wheat or sugar in it. So again, I am always open to suggestions on diet, as I may learn something I never knew previously.

And I still would like supplement suggestions, especially if you have a super supplement that works magic for you.

Thank you
 
All good info, Miss Spencer. I'm seeing a naturopathic doctor/licensed dietician this week for the first time. I'll be sure to bring some of this info along as well as report back any pointers he may give me.
 
I'm seeing a naturopathic doctor/licensed dietician this week
as well as report back any pointers he may give me.
Please post back - I look forward to reading them.

Sadly I have found that most licensed dieticians are very big on following the old fashioned and out-of-date view that you *MUST* eat meat for protein, dairy for calcium and wheat for energy.

It took me months to track down a dietician that specialised in vegan diets. And because of her past clients that had C & UC, she fully understood the need for certain restrictions and was able to offer suitable alternatives.

I do sometimes miss meat, dairy and wheat, but I do NOT miss the pain they caused me.

If only, only, only, only, my doctor had told me about the food connection 10 years ago, I would have saved myself years of misery. Instead he told me there was absolutely no connection.

Anyway.............:goodluck: with the appointment.
 
I think this guy is more of the "quack"-type of naturopath. I had an initial (free) consultation on Wednesday, and I have my first real appointment with him later today, so I'm still reserving judgement.

He went on about applied kinesiology (pseudoscience) and how he'll be suggesting supplements that I can only get through him, because they're powerful, pharmaceutical-grade stuff that you can't get in stores. That doesn't sit right with me. It just seemed like he was more focused on alternative medicine, where I was looking more for diet-related advice.

But I should have a good idea whether to stay with this guy after today. I'll keep you posted.
 
I think this guy is more of the "quack"-type of naturopath. He went on about applied kinesiology (pseudoscience) and how he'll be suggesting supplements that I can only get through him, because they're powerful, pharmaceutical-grade stuff that you can't get in stores. That doesn't sit right with me.
Ultimately, you have to go with what sits right with you. But the above is all true.

You can’t buy good quality practitioner-only supplements in general stores. And kinesiology is an excellent diagnostic tool in the right experienced hands.

Just because someone has different ways of diagnosing, doesn’t mean they are a quack. A quack is someone who has no training or qualifications but he passes himself off as a professional. For example, the infamous case of Frank Abagnale who successfully posed as an attorney, a pilot and a doctor, as a way of conning money out of people.

It is just a question of finding the right professional for you. Some naturopaths only specialise in womens issues like period pains, thrush or fertility issues. Some naturopaths specialise in mens health, some specialise in diabetics, some specialise in allergies.

There is not much point seeing a naturopath for Crohns, if they mainly specialise in feet fungus infections!

Most naturopaths focus on alternative medicine. So if this is not your scene, you would be better off to see a nutritionist or dietician for diet related advice.

Then of course, you have to find a suitable nutritionist or dietician. It took me over 12 months to find someone experienced with vegan diets. Luckily the naturopath I am seeing now is a vegan, so I get the best of both worlds on the diet advice front.

There are crap naturopaths around, no denying. Just like anything in life really. My old mechanic was a real dodgy rip off merchant cowboy; luckily I have now found an honest mechanic. Word of mouth will often find you the best of the best. So maybe ask around. Otherwise get onto one of the societies websites in your country and start emailing members:

http://www.naturopaths.org.uk/
http://www.naturopathy-anp.com/
http://www.naturopathic.org/
 
So, here's what he gave me:

Isotonic Multivitamin/mineral with Iron
Isotonic Joint Support (w/ Glucosamine, Pine Bark Extract, and MSM)
Black Currant Oil
UltraInflamx (I've seen mentioned on this forum a few times. It's got stuff like Turmeric, Ginger, Rosemary, and L-Glutamine in it, along with vitamins/minerals)

And here's what I'm taking on my own:

Flaxseed oil in the morning, Fish Oil in the evening
Calcium Citrate (morning)
L-Glutamine (twice/day)
Primal Defense Probiotic (twice/day)
B-12 (twice/day)
Iron (evening)
B-Complex (evening)
Vitamin D (evening)
Folic Acid (evening, because I'm currently on Methotrexate ...trying to get off)


When I went in for my appointment, he tested my tendon strength. And then hooked me up to stims on the shoulders and lower-back for 20 minutes, which is a pretty strange sensation at first. But the next day, it relieve my neck problems that I've been having for the past month!

So I'm seeing him again this Friday with a food diary filled out. And we'll go from there.
 
Not sure if anyone is still following this thread, but if so, can you please help me out a bit? I have been reading about Dr. Joel Fuhrman's diet - got his book and read his newsletter, no. 36 - however, even though I got no diarrhea and in remission I cannot handle beans and some nuts even though I soak them and prepare them properly. The only thing I can handle is some paleo flours - we have a huge variety of them/oil free, low omega6 nut/seed flours - but mostly chestnut flour.
It is not my Crohns that stuggles but the fissures get swollen and become painful. If I am not allowed to eat much meat but cannot handle the healthy beans and nuts what else is left for me to eat as protein? Already carbs are an issue as I am staying away from gains so I am having some sweet potatoes and pumpkin - but pupkins give me issues.
I do know the diet will feed me well but how to proceed - what to eat? Again, I have no diarrhea but once I start eating beans or nuts my fissures flare up terribly......I so want to have more fiber, although I eat salads and cooked veggies a lot but beans and nuts are so out for now. Breakfast is also an issues as I don't eat grains.....Can someone with experience help please? :) I would appreciate it so much! Also, I am from Hungary and live in Europe so we got different stuff here. I am on LDN right now, 2 months, but also got some Humira shots around when I started as I was in a bad flare-up (had an allergic reaction to Remicade back in February). By now, I am fine again. I tried paleo but I would have to say I got really sick on it from the low carbs and from all that fat and protein...
Is it juicing, blending what I should be doing instead first even though I don't have diarrhea? Thanks so much for all your help and wonderful ideas on this site! :)
 
Hello, I have been reading this very interesting thread.
I want to find the perfect diet to avoid inflammation as I am at high risk for a colectomy. I already avoided it few weeks ago when i was in hospital in a very nasty condition with C-difficile on top. I am currently on 40mg prednisone and remicade (10mg per kg). And I take all kind of supplements and I eat what I think healthy but probably not the right food.

I already have David Klein's book but I am definitely not doing a vegan raw diet and if I would want to be followed by this doctor, it would cost a lot of money as he charges a lot and it seems to be a very drastic diet.

I want to purchase Joel Fuhrman book to have recipes ideas. Which book do you recommend? I see several books on amazon.

Miss Spencer, thank you very much for sharing your story and results with us. When I mention to my family that I am thinking of becoming a vegan, they get very scared. I am thinking that some eggs here and there and some fish once a week might not be such a big deal...
Would you be able to give us an example of what your diet is like for a week?

In my case, every morning I have a shake with home made coconut milk (made with unsweetened coconut flakes), almond butter, papaya and banana) I take lots of supplements and medication at this time.
Lunch time and dinner I have soups and cooked vegetable with quinoa,lentils. I also make my own bread with spelt flour.

I started reintroducing recently raw vegetables as I am having less symptoms and raw vegetables have all the nutrients that we need.
I am gonna start introducing all kind of homemade juices. I already have cabbage juice every day as it is apparently anti-inflammatory.

Thanks all for being here and sharing your story. Ill try to share mine and my observations as often as possible.
 
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